just keep on laughing
by That Pesky Summers Kid
Summary: There's always a brand new day. CS, PS, IS.
1. Dance

Drew normally isn't one to ask people for help _that_ easily. Usually, he puts up a bit more resistance in asking, arguing about the most illogical of things to distract whoever offered, and before they know it, he's gone. And he definitely isn't one to dance either. This is why May is a bit more than surprised when Drew corners her at the beach while she's practicing with her Pokemon, asking her to dance with him at the party.

May usually never practices with her pokémon during parties but after losing two Grand Festivals, she and her pokémon both agree that it's better that she spend time trying to figure out better combination than go to a party.

On the other hand, Drew usually never shows up to the parties. Or if he does, he usually stays in the corner farthest from the center of the room, where everyone is gathered. She supposes that Drew has to attend this particular party; after all, it is to celebrate his new status as Top Coordinator.

May will never admit this to anyone — and if anyone asks, she will totally deny it — but she kind of is jealous of Drew.

From the time they met in Slateport City when Beautifly accidentally threw a frisbee at his head to the time they competed against each other in a battle a few weeks after May's loss to today afternoon when Drew successfully managed to beat her in a contest battle, the final one, he has always been one step ahead of her. Whenever she thinks that she has finally caught up with him, he manages to surprise her.

"What?" May stammers, her face flushing. If anyone asks, she was feeling really cold. "Drew, why don't you ask one of your fangirls?"

She thinks that she sees a speck of hurt flash in his eyes but it is quickly replaced by annoyance. He flicks his green hair, looking at her as though the answer is obvious. "My fangirls are the reason I'm here, May," he says in annoyance. "They won't leave me alone and I need to pretend I already have a date so they'll back off."

She lowers her head and wraps arms around her knees tightly, wondering why she never thought of that. It is common knowledge to those in Drew's circle that Drew is absolutely terrified of his fangirl. On most days, he's usually with Paul because apparently, there is something about Paul that makes him unapproachable to fangirls. But the moment Dawn invites herself over, Drew is gone before you can utter a word since everyone knows that Paul will be a bit nicer if Dawn's around. And that Dawn just loves seeing Drew squirm, so if anybody will rat Drew out to his fangirls, it is that girl.

"Oh," she says. "Why not ask Solidad?"

He gives her flat look. "Yeah, okay," he agrees. "But that'll only work if Solidad can stop talking to Lance for _one_ moment."

May is quiet for a while, silently contemplating her choices. On one hand, she can be nice and help a friend out when he really needs it. On the other hand, she can ignore his request and watch him squirm at the close proximity that his fangirls have with him, just so she can get back at him for all the times he undermined her abilities as a coordinator.

"Okay." She looks up at him, nodding slightly.

Drew breaths out a relieved sigh. "Thank you, May." He holds out his hand for her and she takes it, letting him pull her up. She stumbles a bit, trying to find her footing but Drew wraps his arm around her waist in order to steady her.

May looks down, her cheeks reddening. Her heart starts racing faster and she presses herself against him. "You owe me some noodles after this," she mumbles, not meeting his eyes.

She hears Drew chuckle, feeling his hot breath fan against her neck. "Way to ruin the moment, May."

* * *

 **This is the start of a beautiful work of oneshots~ I love contestshipping so much ^o^**


	2. Treat

When people have friends, they tend to call them a lot to talk about things. It can be about what they ate, the newest Pokemon they saw, or the latest gym they beat. And when they don't, those friends do not show their faces to someone's sweet sixteen, acting as though everything is fine and that they haven't ignored that certain someone for years, with only random phone calls here and there to make sure they are still alive.

Clearly, Ash Ketchum has yet to get that memo because he arrives at Misty's party with a huge grin on his face and a nicely wrapped gift in his hand.

It infuriates Misty to no end. There was a time where she had thought it was one of his more endearing qualities but after being on the receiving end of it, she is starting rethink her earlier observation. Can you honestly blame her?

Other people have kept in touch with her more than Ash has. May, who she only met _once_ , had bothered to keep in touch. She'd even introduced her to Dawn, her boyfriend Drew, and Paul — one of Ash's rivals that Dawn was apparently _not_ seeing but Misty had actually known him before as a trainer she had battled against — who all kept in touch with her. Even Brock kept in touch; he was the only way she had of knowing that Ash was still alive in those long periods of time where Ash would forget of her existence.

"Hey Misty!" he cheers, coming forward to hug her. Pikachu climbs off of his trainer's shoulder and scrambles as far away as he can from Misty. "Long time no see!"

A part of Misty throbs with annoyance. If Pikachu is smart enough to realize when the ginger-haired gym leader is angry, why isn't Ash smart enough to realize the same thing? Her eyes narrow at her oldest friend, her hands on her hips. "Oh no, you don't, Ash Ketchum," she yells angrily. "You don't get to come here after ignoring me for all those years."

Perhaps she sounds pathetic but the truth is that leaving Ash was the hardest thing to do. She honestly had thought Ash felt the same way and for a while, it truly felt like that. But then he kept traveling to different regions, only coming home for a week or two. By the time Misty usually hears about Ash's visits, he is off to another region. It's happened so often that she often asks Delia not to talk about the raven-haired trainer.

She hears about him from time to time from other people but it is just enough for her to know which region he is currently traveling through and who he is traveling with. And if Misty recalls correctly, Dawn had mentioned that Ash had gone off to the Kalos region. He was traveling with a gym leader named Clemont, his sister Bonnie, and one of Ash's old friends Serena.

"Aww, Mist. Why are you so angry?" he pouts at her, his eyes expressing complete and utter confusion. "I even brought ice cream!"

Misty glowers at him. "Didn't you hear me, Ash? You don't get to come back and crash my party after ignoring me for all these years."

"Yeah, but I brought ice cream," he stresses. "How can you be mad if it's _ice cream_? I even brought your favorite. Mint chocolate chip!"

Misty stares flatly at him as she becomes acutely aware of the fact that everyone in the room is watching the two friends argue back and forth. It is unnerving, she has never been good at being the center of attention. "Ash?"

Ash doesn't look away from her gaze, his hand twitching slightly when Pikachu returns to his place on Ash's shoulder. "Yeah, Mist?"

Her lips twitch, the corners of her lips threatening to curve. "Give me the ice cream," she orders. "It better be the good kind."

"Am I forgiven?" he asks hopefully, a large grin spreading across his face.

"Yeah, yeah." Misty waves her hand dismissively. "Ice cream first, questions later, Ash Ketchum."

* * *

 **Nobody can say that they haven't shipped Ash and Misty at least once in their life. They are adorable, like a more friendly version of Paul and Dawn.**


	3. Sand

Piplup loves the beach. It isn't surprising; he is, after all, a water pokémon.

There is just something soothing about watching the waves crash against the sand, leaving patches of hard sand in their wake. The beach is the only place where Piplup can just sit and relax, and not have to constantly look over his shoulder, just to make sure Paul's Wartortle isn't trying to throw him in the water. Mostly because Paul likes to think that the beach is the perfect place to train pokémon.

...Piplup has _never_ been happier to have Dawn as his trainer.

That isn't the only reason why Piplup loves the beach.

The beach is where all the romantic stuff takes place, everyone knows that. Piplup has been lucky enough to witness what people mean when they say that the beach is magical. After all, it is the place where his good friend Lopunny finally admitted her feelings for a certain Electivire that they traveled with. It is also the place where Paul will _finally_ propose to Dawn — at least Piplup hopes Paul will.

This is why, on a beautiful, sunny day, Piplup can be found in the water, hiding behind a huge rock.

He isn't sneaky by any means and since everyone is out of their pokéballs, there are bound to be interruptions. Piplup's best friend, Honchkrow, is supposed to be in charge of keeping the Pokemon away from the purple-haired trainer and the blue-haired coordinator.

At first glance, it may not seem like Honchkrow and Piplup have anything in common, seeing as Honchkrow is a dark and flying type and Piplup is a water type. The both of them had thought the same thing until they realized that they shared one thing: their passion for annoying Paul.

It isn't easy to annoy Paul but as soon as Dawn gets mentioned in the conversation, the trainer starts deflecting questions or completely ignores whoever he was talking to a few minutes ago. Case in point when Torterra, who Honchkrow is _supposed_ to keep away, stomps over to his trainer, and asks, "Hey, Paul? When are you going to propose to Dawn?" he says it casually like he's informing Paul of the weather.

Of course, Paul doesn't understand a thing Torterra is saying but he seems to get the gist of it. Though, that might be because Torterra's special name for Dawn, "Tor Tor," has been mentioned. That and Piplup is pretty sure that Paul has spent enough time with Torterra to understand that Torterra loves to meddle into everyone's business.

"I'm not going to answer that," he mutters, low enough for Piplup to understand from his position.

Dawn rolls onto her stomach and looks at Paul with interest. "Not going to answer what?" she asks.

When Paul looks like he isn't about to answer, Piplup decides to step in. He swims out of the water, confidently waddling toward his trainer. He stops right in front of Torterra, banging his blue flipper against his chest. "Leave it to me," he tells Torterra. To Dawn, he says, "Torterra was just asking when Paul is going to propose."

"Thanks for telling me, Piplup!" Piplup isn't sure if Dawn understands what he just said but she nods anyway, glaring at her boyfriend. "Since obviously Paul isn't going to tell me." She stands up, making sure to grab her pokéballs, and heads in the direction of the other Pokemon while dragging her feet along the sand. "I think it's time to head back," she calls.

Piplup turns to look at Paul, intending to give Paul a smug look. Instead, he is met with a glaring Paul, who seems to be emitting a dark aura. The penguin pokémon gulps, backing away from the purple-haired trainer.

"I don't know what you said, Piplup," he says, his voice a whisper. "But if it is what I think it is, I'll be the first to let you know that your meddling is not appreciated. Your's too, Torterra. Unless you want Dawn to know about the Pom-Pom incident, I suggest you keep your beak shut." He leans back, a satisfied smile on his face.

Guess Piplup isn't going to be matchmaking anytime soon. So much for _that_ attempt.

* * *

 **I like to think that when Paul is close to being embarrassed, he turns into a scary version of Sabrina from the anime, minus the powers. And since this is from Piplup's point of view, he can understand what other Pokemon say and what humans say but humans cannot understand what he says. Also, I feel like this isn't as good as the last wo, so tell me what you think!**


End file.
